Multilaminar tag material

ABSTRACT

A three layer tag material constructed of a top layer of polymer bonded to the emulsion side of a micro-encapsulated carbonless paper which inturn is bonded to the uncoated side of a coated one side paper. The resulting construction is a laminated two side printable tag material with both sides being printable by traditional printing methods, or which can be subjected to either metal stamping or embossing applied to either surface of the tag to furnish print material upon said tag. The total tag caliper is reliant on the sum of the calipers of the three different layers that can be customized for specific applications by varying the calipers of one or more of the different components. An additional layer of clear laminate may be adhered to the coated side of the coated one side paper, on the bottom, for additional print protection.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This continuation-in-part patent application claims priority to thenon-provisional patent application having Ser. No. 12/924,735, havingfiling date Oct. 4, 2010, which claims priority to the provisionalpatent application having Ser. No. 61/278,379, having filing date Oct.6, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The tag material of this invention relates to the use of laminatecomponents, which when adhesively adhered together form a tag type ofmaterial that can be imprinted with various indicia and productinformation or even subjected to metal stamping or embossing upon itssurface to furnish an acceptable tag for use in the marketing ofproducts to the trade.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This present invention provides a laminate tag material for use for anynumber of tag manufactured applications. The tag material is reinforcedand printable or embossable on two sides, with one side being printableby any of a variety of printing methods.

This invention relates generally to tag materials which are printable bya variety of printing methods including flexo, off-set, rotgravure,screen printing, etc., with the micro-encapsulated layer being impactprintable for date coding, lot coding, or any other application where adurable, visible image is required when being embossed or metal stampedwithout the use of inks or dyes.

Many style of tag material have been readily available in the art andfor use for providing information relative to various marketed products.For example, paper tags have long been used in the art. Polymer typetags have become more prominent, because of their durability, and nowhave been designed for accepting print material. A combination of thesetypes of components formulated into tags has not apparently beenavailable to any improved extent. Hence, the provision of tags thatreadily accept print indicia, or other information, or which may beembossed, and yet remain very durable during usage, and can withstandrough handling, is a welcome addition to the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The tag material of this current invention is designed for usage for anynumber of tag applications. It is a multilaminar style of tag that canaccept various indicia, whether it be imprinted thereon, or embossed ormetal stamped with or without the use of any inks or dyes. In itslaminar structure, the top layer of the tag will be formed of a clearlaminate which inturn is laminated or bonded with an adhesive to theemulsion side of a micro-encapsulated paper which comprises the secondor inner layer. This second layer may comprise a form of NCR paper,which is a carbonless paper, such as available from Appleton PaperCompany, of Appleton, Wis. Its brand name is NCR. This second or innerlayer is then laminated or bonded with an adhesive to the uncoated sideof a third or bottom layer of paper, which is formed as a coated oneside (C1S) paper. The laminated, micro-encapsulated surface of the tagcreates the unique feature of a resulting tag material that is capableof being printed without the use of any inks or dyes, by either a metalstamping or embossing of the surface of the tag material. This may bedone to either of its exposed surfaces. Although, it is likely that thevarious printing methods may also apply by print indicia onto the label,to provide it with the type of information needed upon a product label,when employed.

The tag material consists of three layers bonded by an adhesive, thefirst or top layer of the tag material is formed as the clear laminateas explained herein. This layer is laminated or bonded by adhesive tothe top face of the second, or middle layer, which comprises amicro-encapsulated paper, of the carbonless type, as previouslyexplained. This second or inner layer is then laminated or bonded withan adhesive to the uncoated side of the third or bottom layer of paper,comprising the C1S paper as defined. This third or bottom layer may beformed of the type of paper as explained, or as an alternative, arelated sheet material, which has been coated with a direct thermalemulsion, with the thermal emulsion facing outwardly in the laminate maybe used. This third layer is laminated or bonded by an adhesive to thebottom face of the said second layer. The type of adhesive that may beused may be any of the variety of adhesives normally used for laminatingpapers or films together, and one such laminated adhesive is availableunder the brand name Airflex 426, which is a water based laminatingadhesive, manufactured by Air Products Company. There are a variety ofadhesives suppliers with various adhesive formulas that could be usedfor this type of lamination.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide alaminated material for use for tag purposes, and which may combine apolymer layer, applied to a carbonless paper, and having a coated oneside bottom layer, which when all laminated together, can be eitherimprinted with data, or embossed or metal stamped with or without theuse of inks or dyes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a durable tag materialthat incorporates both paper, and polymer film, the latter adding to thedurability of the tag during its application and usage.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an easily formedlaminate which may be embossed or stamped with indicia, due to theformation of its intermediate layer with carbonless paper, which can bestamped or embossed to provide readily available and readable indiciafor the tag in preparation for its usage.

These and other objects may become more apparent to those skilled in theart upon review of the summary of the invention as provided herein, andupon undertaking a study of the description of its preferredembodiments, in view of the drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the laminated tag material of thisinvention, showing its three layers as bonded together preferably withadhesive to furnish a carbonless paper type of polymer reinforced tagfor use for identification purposes when the tag is applied to a productduring usage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In referring to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1, the three layertag of this invention is formed of material generally constructed of atop layer 50, formed of a clear polypropylene or related laminatematerial bonded to the emulsion side of a micro-encapsulated carbonlesspaper layer 60, being bonded by an adhesive 55, which paper layer 60inturn is bonded to the uncoated side of a coated one side (C1S) paper70. This bonding also is attained by means of adhesive 65. In referringto the drawing, the resulting construction is a laminated, two sideprintable tag material with both sides being printable by traditionalprinting methods, such as flexo, Rotgravure, and the like. Additionally,a laminated micro-encapsulated side of the tag is capable of beingimaged without the use of inks or dyes, by either metal stamping orembossing of the surface of the tag. This is primarily due to thepresence of the carbonless paper being available for the intermediatelaminate provided within the tag material. The total tag caliper isreliant on the sum of the caliper of the three different layers that canbe customized for specific applications by varying the calipers of oneor more of the different components. In addition, the layer of clearlaminate, as at 50, may also be adhered to the coated side of the C1Spaper for additional print protection.

This tag material of the current invention is designed for usage for anumber of tag applications, the top layer of the tag will be formed of aclear laminate which inturn is laminated or bonded with adhesive to theemulsion side of the micro-encapsulated paper, which comprises thesecond or inner layer of the tag material. This is the carbonless paperof the intermediate laminate. This second or inner layer is thenlaminated or bonded with adhesive to the uncoated side of the third orbottom layer, which is formed, as a foresaid, to the coated one side(C1S) paper. The laminated, micro-encapsulated surface of the tagcreates the unique feature of the resulting tag material that is capableof being printed without the use of inks or dyes by either the metalstamping or embossing of the surface of the tag material, during itspreparation.

Obviously, other types of polymer films may be used in combination withthis laminated tag, whether it is applied to the upper or lower surfaceof the NCR paper, in its formulation.

Variations or modifications to the subject matter of this invention mayoccur to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the disclosure asprovided herein. Such variations, if within the spirit of thisdevelopment, are intended to be encompassed within the scope of anyclaims to patent protection provided herein. The description of thepreferred embodiment as set forth herein, and as depicted in thedrawings, is done so for illustrative purposes only.

1. A material for making tags printable on two sides, said materialcomprising a laminate with a top face and a bottom face, said laminatecomprising a top layer of a clear laminate of polymer film; a middlelayer of a micro-encapsulated carbonless paper, said middle layer bondedto the bottom surface of said top layer by a bonding adhesive; a bottomlayer of coated one side paper, said bottom being bonded to the bottomsurface of the middle layer by a layer of bonding adhesive applied tothe top surface of said bottom layer, to adhere to the middle layer ofthe tag material; and whereby said tag material may be imprinted byembossing or metal stamping to provide the appearance of indicia for thetag material in preparation for its usage.
 2. The material of claim 1wherein said bottom layer is formed of a coated one side (C1S) paper. 3.The tag material of claim 2 wherein said top layer is formed of a clearlaminate of polypropylene.